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Home » Gregory to stay as CEO of Mammoth Mountain, passes operations to six-member leadership team

Gregory to stay as CEO of Mammoth Mountain, passes operations to six-member leadership team

Rusty Gregory said in a company-wide memo Thursday that he intended to stay as chief operating officer of Mammoth Mountian Ski Area, but would “pass the baton to a new genration of leaders.”

The memo cleared up some of the questions in the wake of Gregory’s surprise announcmenet on Wednesday that he would announce “in the next two-to-three weeks who would run Mammoth Mountain next. Mammoth Mountain will not be run by me.”

Gregory, who made his announcement at a Town Council meeting, declined to elaborate at the time what he meant by his remarks, sought to clear up questions by way of the company memo.

In it, he described how the Town of Mammoth Lakes and the ski area have evolved over the years, and that now is the time for “new vision and bold action.”

“It is time to pass the baton to a new generation of leaders who dare to have this vision and possess the audacity to take the big risk, the guts to change the old ways and the energy to do the hard work to transform the opportunities of the future into realities."

The day-to-day operation would be run by a “leadership team” made up of six individuals, including a Chief Operating Officer, he said.

He did not name the members of the team in his memo.

Meanwhile, Chief Marketing Strategist Howard Pickett, who announced his departure earlier, said the company would continue its efforts in building Mammoth’s national and international brand.

Pickett also said in an interview that the ski area, in conjunction with Mammoth Lakes tourism, would announce a new booking/reservation system by the start of the next ski season.

The full text of Gregory’s memo is as follows:

The communities of Mammoth and June continue to struggle with the hardships and disillusionment of the last seven years that saw a global financial meltdown, two years of recession, and four years of the worst drought in our region’s history. Jobs were lost, businesses disappeared, a town went bankrupt and a ski area was closed.

As locals moved away, and others were making plans to follow, the world began to change. Business began to improve, jobs were created, new employees hired, home prices began to rise, companies and individuals began to invest. These improving circumstances have been imperceptible to most, but they exist, they are real, and they are harbingers of a bright future ahead.

Our company and our community will not realize the opportunities of the future by employing solutions of the past. It is time for new vision and bold action. It is time to pass the baton to a new generation of leaders who dare to have this vision and possess the audacity to take the big risk, the guts to change the old ways and the energy to do the hard work to transform the opportunities of the future into realities.

While I intend to be your CEO for some time, I am stepping away from ski area operations and business duties that I have been my responsibility since 1995 to make way for a new six member leadership team, including a Chief Operating Officer of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. I will turn my focus on attracting and deploying the considerable resources required for the company and the community to realize its full potential. I am excited to introduce you to this new leadership team and to have you hear the vision for our future and our plans to get there.